The baron and his lady sat patiently as they watched their daughter's fleeting eyes scanning the letter from Lord Wlydon. Their facial appearances betrayed none of their real feelings, which were in fact quite anxious for the reply of the training master.
The girl's eyes came up to meet her parents. She was tall for her age of ten and possessed her father's long-lashed hazel eyes and slightly lighter brown hair. "He wants to put me on probation." Her face was also unreadable; as the whole family had lived in the Yamani Islands for the last six years, where responses other than that of a calm posture were seen as disgraceful. As a result, no doubt a four-year-old girl would learn the "right" customs of her current shelter.
Lady Ilane glanced at the Baron Piers with a raised arch above her left eyes, which was practically the only sense of emotion she ever betrayed, before she turned to her daughter. "That is not reasonable, Keladry. Nothing was said about probation ten years ago."
The baron inquired slightly mockingly, in which any Tortallan would not have sensed, "And wasn't it in proclamation ten years ago that all girls were welcome to become pages?"
Keladry only glanced down at the letter still in her hands. No, nothing was said about probation when the declaration was announced, then how can they do this to her. She was only partially upset, for the most part, she was angry. Only her master experience kept her from expressing it. "It isn't fair," was all she said.
"Do you want to take probation?" Her mother stood beside her, laying a hand on her shoulder.
Kel glanced up at her mother, who at full-extended height was in fact taller than that of her father. "I don't know. I want to learn how to fight, but I don't want to give in to what they say. She thought for a moment, sorting out her options. She could go to the girl's convent and return a respectable lady or she could take probation or wait five years and join the queen's riders. Immediately, the convent idea left her mind as she considered being in the queen's riders. She could use the five years to learn and better her battle strategies and she wouldn't have to be humiliated as the girl on probation. Finally she spoke again shortly, "I want to join the Queen's Riders."
